Retractable platen control in check endorsing machines



Nov. 16, 1965 R. KELLY 3,217,639

RETRACTABLE PLATEN CONTROL IN CHECK ENDORSING MACHINES Filed July 18, 1963 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 Fig.1.

INVENTOR.

ROBERT KELLY BY A TTORNEY Nov. 16, 1965 KELLY 3,217,63

RETRACTABLE PLATEN CONTROL IN CHECK ENDORSING MACHINES Filed July 18, 1963 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 I I0 E I 40 I 1 INVENTOR I "l liii; l /mmr KELLX @JRNEK Nov. 16, 1965 R. KELLY 3, 7 3

RETRACTABLE PLATEN CONTROL IN CHECK ENDORSING MACHINES Filed July 18, 1963 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 so I I06 94 I6 w INVENTOR. I RI BY ROBERT KELLY AT TORNEY.

United States Patent 3,217,639 RETRACTABLE PLATEN CONTROL IN CHECK ENDORSING MACHINES Robert Kelly, Clawson, Micln, assignor to Burroughs Corporation, Detroit, Mich, a corporation of Michigan Filed July 18, 1963, Ser. No. 296,047 9 Claims. (Cl. 101233) This invention relates generally to printing apparatus and particularly to a roll-on type of printing apparatus.

One of the objects of the present invention is to provide an improved roll-on printing apparatus of the type in which a pivotally mounted roller platen is pivoted each printing operation from a retracted position to a printing position against a print wheel.

Another object of the invention is to provide a roll-on printing apparatus of the above mentioned character in which the platen is swung into effective printing position against the print wheel with provisions for reducing formerly encountered platen bounce and accompanying unwanted skip printing.

Specifically, it is an object of the invention to cushion the action of the platen as it is swung against the print wheel and counter the resultant reaction with a force of increasing magnitude without decreasing the printing speed of operation.

A further object of the invention is to provide a roll-on printing apparatus having a sheet guideway within which a platen is movable between retracted and print positions and to provide for further retraction of the platen without the guideway during non-printing operations so as to insure unobstructed passage of sheets including those which may have slips and paper clips attached thereto.

Other objects of the invention will become apparent from the following description, taken in connection with the accompanying drawings in which:

FIG. 1 is a plan view partly broken away and in section of a printing apparatus, embodying features of the invention;

FIG. 2 is an elevational view, partly broken away and in section, and taken in the direction of the arrows 22 of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a vertical sectional view, taken along the line 3-3 of FIG. 1;

FIG. 4 is another vertical section view, taken along the line 4-4 of FIG. 1;

FIG. 5 is a diagrammatical illustration of a control circuit for the printing apparatus, and

FIG. 6 is an enlarged fragmentary plan view broken away and in section to illustrate the impact of a platen against a print wheel.

Referring to the drawings by characters of reference the printing apparatus shown comprises in general a supporting member or bed plate 10, a sheet guideway 12, a print wheel 14, and a platen 16. The guideway 12, print wheel 14 and the platen 16 may be mounted on and be arranged above the bed plate 10, the print wheel and platen being arranged opposite each other on opposite sides of the guideway '12.

The guideway 12 may comprise a pair of vertically extending plates 18 and 20, arranged in broadside spaced apart relationship to define a path of sheet travel. Sheets of paper, such as bank checks, as at 22 may be propelled by any well known suitable means along the guideway 12 to the print wheel and platen whence they may be transported to a check sorter (not shown).

As shown, the print wheel 14 is affixed to the upper end of a vertical driven shaft 24 and mounted on the periphery of the print wheel there is a pair of diametrically oppositely positioned print plates 26. The print wheel 14 is positioned such that its periphery projects slightly into the guideway 12 which is provided with a 3,217,639 Patented Nov. 16, 1965 clearance aperture 28 to receive the wheel. In the present printing apparatus, the print wheel 14 is driven continuously, the surface speed of the wheel and the linear speed of the checks, passing along guideway 12 being synchronized.

The platen 16 is mounted on a horizontally rockable arm 30 for movement toward and/or away from the print wheel 14, the platen 16 normally being at rest in the retracted position shown in full lines in FIG. 1. In this position, the platen 16 extends into the guideway 12 through a clearance aperture 32 in the guide plate 20 with the periphery of the platen proximate the periphery of the print wheel 14, the spacing therebetween preferably being about 0.20 of an inch.

Preferably the arm 30 is in the form of a yoke having a lower horizontal leg 33, an upper horizontal leg 34 and a vertical connecting web 36. The yoke 30 is mounted on and affixed to the upper end of a rotatable tubular shaft 38 which seats at its lower end on the upper rotatable race of a bearing 40, the lower race of which is securely retained in a recess in the upper surface of the bed plate 10. The upper end of the tubular shaft 38 may be press fitted, or be otherwise suitably secured in and to the lower leg 33 of the yoke 30. Adjacent their ends, the yoke legs 33 and 34 are provided with vertically aligning bores in which a driven shaft 42 is journalled, and affixed to shaft 42 is the platen 16 positioned between the yoke legs.

A vertical driving shaft 44 extends upwardly through the bed plate 10 and the tubular shaft 38 and is journaled in the lower and upper yoke legs 33 and 34 by suitable roller bearings 46 and 48. An upper end portion of the driving shaft 44 projects above the upper yoke leg 34 and threaded onto the upper end of the shaft there is a supporting nut 50 for the shaft 44. Interposed between the lower end of the nut 50 and the upper yoke leg 34 there is a thrust bearing 52 to reduce friction between the nut and the upper leg '34 of the yoke 30. Afiixed onto the driving shaft 44 between the lower yoke arm 33 and the upper yoke arm 34 there is a driving gear 54 which is in mesh with and drives a gear 56 that is afiixed to the platen shaft 42.

With reference to FIG. 1, it will be seen in plan view that the vertical axes of the print wheel 14 and the platen 16 are in a vertical plane substantially normal to the vertical plane of the path of sheet travel. In addition, the axis of the yoke 30 is located such that it is in a vertical plane with the axis of the platen 16, the plane intersecting the path of sheet travel posteriorly to the print wheel and platen with respect to the direction of sheet travel and thus being at an acute angle to the path.

A power element, or solenoid 60 is provided to move the platen 16 from its normally retracted position, shown in full lines, FIG. 1, toward the print wheel 14 and comprises the usual coil 62 and electrically operated actuator or movable core 64. The core 64 carries an extension rod 66. The solenoid 60 is mounted on a supporting member or standard 67 which in turn is mounted on the bed plate 10, as shown for example in FIG. 4. The solenoid 60 is arranged, as shown in FIG. 1, such that the rounded end of its plunger rod 66 engages a hardened abutment member 68 which is secured into the outer side of the upper yoke leg 34 near the end of the latter. That is, the longitudinal axis of the solenoid plunger rod 66 is substantially at a right angle to the vertical plane of the axes of the platen 16 and the yoke 30.

In accordance with the invention, bouncing of the platen 16, as it is thrust into impact with the print wheel 14 by the solenoid 60, is eliminated for all practical purposes by the provision of platen cushioning means 70 and the force exerted by the solenoid core 64. The cushioning means 70 is, in the present apparatus, in the form of resilient print elements which may be rubber or rubberized material, bonded or otherwise suitably secured to the print plates 26. The solenoid core 64 travels a longer dis tance than the distance between the normal position of the platen 16 and the print wheel 14 and the platen engages the print wheel before the maximum force of the solenoid is reached. As a consequence, the print elements 70 are slightly displaced by the platen and the reaction force of the resilient print elements is countered by the greater force of the solenoid which thus prevents platen bounce.

Rigidly mounted on the top of the standard 67 is one end of an extension member or arm 72 which extends over and across the yoke 30 to support a stop member 74 on the other side of the yoke from the solenoid 60. The stop member 74 limits rotation of the yoke 30 by the solenoid 60 and thus limits movement of the platen 16 toward the print wheel 14. The stop member 74 may be adjustably positioned with respect to a cooperating abutment member 76 that is secured in and to the adjacent side of the yoke arm 34. In the present construction, the stop member 74 has an upper shank portion 78 screwthreaded into ,a vertical bore in arm 72 and a lower conical abutment portion 80 in the path of the yoke abutment member 76.

By raising and/or lowering the conical stop member 80,

it will be seen that the normal travel of the solenoid plunger 66 and thus platen 16 may be varied. The stop member 74 is adjusted such that travel of the platen 16 against the print elements will be limited to the displacement range of the particular resilient material of the print elements 70.

Contact between the solenoid plunger rod 66 and the abutment 68 is maintained by a helical coil spring 82 which has one end attached to an extension member 84 of yoke leg 34 and the other end anchored by a pin 86 to the standard 67. On the opposite end of the solenoid core 64 from the rod 66 there is another rod 88, the end of which projects into a body 90 and engages a stop member 92 in the form of an eccentric. The stop member 92 is shown in normal position to limit retraction of the platen 16 to the aforementioned retracted position shown in full lines in FIG. 1. A handle 94 is provided for rotating the eccentric stop member 92 through 180 to extend the retractive movement of the plunger 66, thus allowing the platen 16 to move further away from the platen to an inelfective position, designated 16', without the guide- .way 12.

The solenoid 60 is activated in response to the approach of a check to the print wheel 14, the solenoid being electrically connected to a photoelectric cell 96 which normally receives light from an electric lamp 98. As shown in FIG. 1, the cell 96 and the lamp 98 are mounted on the bed plate on opposite sides of the sheet guideway 12 such that each passing check, enroute to the printer, will block the light for a short interval from the cell.

As shown in FIG. 5, the circuit of the cell 96 is a well known circuit utilizing a triode 100 having its cathode connected to ground through the cell 96 and its anode or plate connected to a suitable potential by a conductor containing a relay coil R with a parallel capacitor 102. A potential divider 104, connected to a suitable biasing source ,provides for the proper potential on the triode grid so that the relay coil R will be energized in the well known manner when the light from lamp 98 is blocked by a check.

The relay coil R has a pair of normally open contacts R1 .in series circuit with the solenoid 60, thus operatively connecting the solenoid and the photoelectric cell 96.

Also in series circuit with the solenoid 60 there is a manually operable switch 106 which is actuated by the eccentric 92 when the limit of the plunger of solenoid 60 is changed from the normal setting shown to the setting which allows the platen to move to its ineffective position 16'. Normally, the switch 106 is held closed by the eccentric operating handle 94 but is allowed to open when the handle is operated to allow the platen to move to its inetfective position, the purpose being to prevent energization of the solenoid 60 during the inactive or non-printing period.

Operation As previously mentioned, the operating parts of the printing apparatus will be normally in the positions shown with the platen 16 in its retracted position as shown in full lines in FIG. 1. When a check enroute along guideway 12 passes and consequently blocks the light to the photoelectric cell 96, the solenoid 60 is energized and, overcoming the return spring 82, rocks the yoke 30 in a direc tion to swing the platen 16 against the print elements 70 of print wheel 14 with an impact force equal to the force exerted by the solenoid plus the force of inertia of the platen. As is well known, it is an inherent characteristic of solenoids that an interval, following their energization, is required during current buildup before they reach their full power. In the present arrangement, the platen 16, is moved into impact with the print elements 70 as the solenOid force is increasing in magnitude and the resilient print elements function as a cushion to dissipate or store the impact force, the impact counter force stored in the resilient print elements being countered by the increasing magnitude of the force exerted by the solenoid, thus preventing bounce of the platen 0n the print wheel. That is, the differential between the solenoid force employed to swing the platen against the printing elements and the solenoids peak force, is employed as the holding force to prevent platen rebound or bounce. The distance of travel of the solenoid plunger 64 is greater than the distance (0.20") between the print wheel and platen peripheries when the platen is in its normally retracted position and said distance of travel is determined by the stop member 80. The stop member is set in accordance with the displacement of the particular resilient material used for the print elements and is set such that displacement by the platen will be less than capacity displacement of the material, since if the material were displaced to its capacity, bouncing of the platen would occur.

Upon the passing of the trailing edge of the check beyond the photoelectric cell 96, the solenoid 60 is de-energized whereupon the spring 82 pivots the yoke 30 away from the print Wheel 14 and the solenoid plunger against its settable stop member 92 which positions the platen 16 again in its normally retracted position.

In certain types of check handling machines, all checks including those that dont require endorsing or other printing thereon are transported through the printer guideway enroute, for example, to a check sorting machine and these checks are usually handled in batches and frequently have other sheets and clips attached thereto which would normally engage and be slowed down by the print wheel and platen. In the present apparatus, when a batch of said checks are to be sent along the guideway 12 without receiving an imprint, the machine operator first, by means of the handle 94, resets the eccentric stop member 92 by moving the handle through This allows the spring 82 to further retract the platen 16 to a position entirely without the guideway 12, thus withdrawing the platen as an obstruction to the passing check.

What is claimed is:

1. In a printing apparatus, a sheet guideway, a print wheel positioned along said guideway, a rotatable platen positioned along said guideway for cooperation with said print wheel, said platen mounted for bodily movement relative to said print wheel from a print position adjacent said print wheel to a normally retracted position, a settable stop member normally limiting movement of said platen from said print wheel tosaid retracted position, an actuator operatively connected to said platen, said actuator operable on activation thereof to move said platen from said normally retracted position to said print position adjacent said print wheel, means urging said platen toward said stop member and effective upon deactivation of said actuator, said settable stop member settable at the will of an operator to extend its distance from said print wheel to establish an inactive position of said platen, a first control member operatively connected to said actuator to effect actuation thereof and responsive to the passing of a sheet along said guideway, and a second control member operatively connected to said actuator and operable to disable said actuator irrespective of the operation of said first control member.

2. In a printing apparatus, a sheet guideway along which sheets are fed singly on edge, a print wheel mounted for rotation about an axis on one side of said guideway and projecting into the latter, a driving shaft positioned laterally of the path of sheet travel on the other side of said guideway from said print wheel, an arm pivotally mounted to rotate about the axis of said driving shaft and extending therefrom toward said guideway, a platen rotatably mounted on said arm in spaced relation to and driven by said driving shaft, yieldable means urging said arm to pivot the latter in a direction to move said platen away from said print wheel, a settable stop member normally set to limit movement of said arm by said yieldable means to position said platen in a normally retracted position with the platen periphery projecting within said guideway, a normally inactivated actuator operatively connected to said arm, said actuator operable upon activation ther :of to pivot said arm in a direction to move said platen into cooperative printing position with said print wheel, and means operable to set said settable stop member in another position for movement of said platen by said yieldable means to an ineffective position without said guideway, 21 control member operatively connected to said actuator to effect actuation thereof and responsive to the passing of a sheet along said guideway, and a control member operatively connected to said actuator and operable to inactivate said actuator and operable by the setting of said settable stop member in said another position.

3. In a printing apparatus, a sheet guideway along which sheets are fed singly, a print Wheel mounted for rotation about an axis on one side of said guideway and projecting partway into the latter, a driving shaft positioned on the other side of said guideway from said print wheel, an arm pivotally mounted for rotation about the axis of said driving shaft and extending therefrom toward said guideway, a rotatable platen mounted on said arm on the other side of said guideway from and opposite said print wheel, a stationary mounting, an electrically operated actuator supported on said mounting and normally inactivated, said actuator abutting said arm transversely thereto and on activation rectilinearly movable to pivot said arm in a direction to move said platen from a normally retracted position to an effective printing position adjacent said print wheel, yieldable means urging said platen toward the retracted position and maintaining contact between said arm and said actuator, a settable stop member normally limiting retraction of said print wheel to said retracted position, manually operable means to set said settable stop member in another position further from said guide member to effect limitation of movement of said platen to an ineffective position, a switch member operatively connected to and for effecting actuation of said actuator in response to the passing of a sheet along said guideway, and a second and normally closed switch member controlling operation of said actuator and movable to open position by and upon the setting of said settable stop member in said another position by said manually operable means.

4. In a printing apparatus, a sheet guideway along which sheets are fed singly, a print wheel mounted for rotation about an axis on one side of said guideway and projecting partway into said guideway, a driving shaft positioned on the other side of said guideway from said print wheel, an arm pivotally mounted for rotation about the axis of said driving shaft and extending therefrom toward said guideway, a rotatable platen mounted on said arm in spaced relation to said shaft and driven by the latter opposite said print wheel, a stationary mounting member, a normally inactivated electrically operated actuator supported by said mounting member, said actua-,

tor abutting said arm and on activation moving to pivot said arm in a direction to move said platen toward and into printing position with said print wheel, an extension member supported by said mounting member and overlying said arm, an adjustable stop member on said extension member to engage said arm and limit rotative movement of said platen by said actuator to the printing position, yieldable means operable to pivot said arm in the opposite direction upon deactivation of said actuator, a settable stop member mounted on said stationary mounting member and normally set to stop said actuator to limit movement of said platen by said yieldable means to a retracted position projecting partway into said guideway, manually operable means to set said stop member to extend retraction of said platen by said yieldable means to an ineffective position without said guideway, and switch means responsive to the passage of a sheet along said guideway and operatively connected to said actuator to activate the latter.

5. In a printing apparatus, a sheet guideway along which sheets are fed singly on edge, a print wheel mounted for rotation about an axis on one side of said guideway and projecting partway into said guideway, a driving shaft positioned on the other side of said guideway from said print wheel, an arm pivotally mounted for rotation about the axis of said driving shaft and extending therefrom toward said guideway, a rotatable platen mounted on said arm in spaced relation to said shaft and driven by the latter opposite said print wheel, a stationary mounting member, a normally inactivated electrically operated actuator supported by said mounting member, said actuator abutting said arm and on activation moving to pivot said arm in a direction to move said platen toward and into printing position with said print Wheel, an extension member supported by said mounting member and overlying said arm, an adjustable stop member on said extension member to engage said arm and limit rotative movement of said platen by said actuator to the printing position, yieldable means operable to pivot said arm in the opposite direction upon deactivation of said actuator, a settable stop member mounted on said stationary mounting member and normally set to stop said actuator to limit movement of said platen by said yieldable means to a retracted position projecting partway into said guide- Way, manually operable means to set said stop member to extend retraction of said platen by said yieldable means to an ineffective position without said guideway, switch means responsive to the passage of a sheet along said guideway and operatively connected to said actuator to activate the latter, and a second switch member activated by the manual setting of said settable stop member to control activation of said actuator by said first-mentioned switch member.

6. In a printing apparatus, a guideway along which a sheet is fed, a print Wheel positioned along said guideway on one side of a path of sheet travel, a rotatable platen positioned on the other side of the path of sheet travel, said platen having a first retracted position projecting into said guideway and movable further into said guideway toward said print wheel to press a sheet thereagainst, an actuator operatively connected to said platen and activatable to move said platen to said print wheel, yieldable means biasing said platen to the first retracted position thereof, a first control member operatively connected to said actuator to control activation thereof and responsive to a sheet passing along said guideway, a settable stop member positioned to stop movement of said platen by said yieldable means at said first retracted position and settable to another position to effect retraction of said platen by said yieldable means to a second retracted position without said guideway, and a second control member operatively connected to said actuator and operable to disable said actuator irrespective of the operation of said first control member and responsive to the setting of said settable member in said another position.

7. In a printing apparatus, a guideway along which a sheet is fed, a print wheel on one side of said guideway including printing elements on the periphery of the print wheel, a rotata-bly driven platen on the other side of said guideway, said platen having a normally retracted position a predetermined distance from the periphery of said print wheel and mounted for accelerated movement to said print wheel to strike a sheet against said printing elements, a normally inactive electrically operated actuator operatively connected to said pla-ten and operable to move said platen with accelerated movement and impact force to said print wheel, said actuator on activation thereof exerting a force increasing in magnitude to a predetermined potential force, a stop member positioned to stop movement of said platen prior to the attainment of said potential force, resilient means positioned between said printing elements and said print wheel to receive and store the impact force of said platen and limited in displacement by said stopmember to effect a reaction force less than said potential force, and a switch member operatively connected to said actuator to activate the latter and responsive to the passing of a sheet along said guideway.

8. In a printing apparatus, a guideway along which a sheet is fed, a print wheel positioned on one side of said guideway and having resilient printing elements on the periphery thereof, a rotatable platen on the other side of said guideway, said platen having a normally retracted position a predetermined distance from said print wheel and mounted for accelerated movement to strike a sheet and press it against said printing elements with an impact, an electrically operated rectilinearly movable actuator operatively connected to said platen and normally de-energized, said electrically operated actuator upon energization thereof being operable to thrust said platen against said resilient printing elements with a force increasing in magnitude to a predetermined peak force, a stop member positioned in alignment with and for stopping said actuator to stop movement of said platen to effect a predetermined partial displacement of said resilient printing elements to absorb the impact force of said platen against said printing elements and prior to the attainment of said peak force by said actuator, said peak force holding said platen against said printing elements, and a switch member operatively connected to and controlling operation of said actuator in response to the passing of a sheet along said guideway.

9. In a printing apparatus, a guideway along which a sheet is fed, a print wheel member positioned on one side of said guideway and having resilient printing elements, a rotatable platen member positioned on the opposite side of said guideway, one of said members having a normally retracted position a predetermined distance from the other member and movable with increasing velocity to engage the resilient print elements with the platen member, an electrically operated actuator operatively connected to said one member, said actuator on activation thereof operable with a force increasing in magnitude to engage said members with an impact tending to effect a rebound of said one member by the counter force stored in said resilient printing elements, said actuator force increasing to a predetermined potential force, a stop member positioned to stop movement of said one member by said actuator prior to the attainment of said predetermined potential force by said actuator and also limit displacement of said resilient printing elements to effect a corresponding counter force by the resilient printing elements less than said potential force, a first switch member operatively connected to said actuator to activate the latter and responsive to the passing of a sheet past a predetermined point of said guideway, and a second switch member operatively connected to said actuator and operable to disable said actuator irrespective of the operation of said first switch member.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,518,878 8/1955 Gerlach 101247 2,773,446 12/1956 Koeber 101-233 2,787,212 4/1957 Deplanque 10191 X 2,860,574 11/1958 Ritzerfeld et a1. 101-91 3,013,486 12/1961 Ritzerfeld et a1. 101-91 X 3,037,447 6/1962 Gonzalez et al. 101-91 3,077,832 2/1963 Ritzerfeld et al 101-91 X WILLIAM B. PENN, Primary Examiner. 

1. IN A PRINTING APPARATUS, A SHEET GUIDEWAY, A PRINT WHEEL POSITIONED ALONG SAID GUIDEWAY, A ROTATABLE PLATEN POSITIONED ALONG SAID GUIDEWAY FOR COOPERATION WITH SAID PRINT WHEEL, SAID PLATEN MOUNTED FOR BODILY MOVEMENT RELATIVE TO SAID PRINT WHEEL FROM A PRINT POSITION ADJACENT SAID PRINT WHEEL TO A NORMALLY RETRACTED POSITION, A SETTABLE STOP MEMBER NORMALLY LIMITING MOVEMENT OF SAID PLATEN FROM SAID PRINT WHEEL TO SAID RETRACTED POSITION, AN ACTUATOR OPERATIVELY CONNECTED TO SAID PLATEN, SAID ACTUATOR OPERABLE ON ACTIVATION THEREOF TO MOVE SAID PLATEN FROM SAID NORMALLY RETRACTED POSITION TO SAID PRINT POSITION ADJACENT SAID PRINT WHEEL, MEANS URGING SAID PLATEN TOWARD SAID STOP MEMBER AND EFFECTIVE UPON DEACTIVATION OF SAID ACTUATOR, SAID SETTABLE STOP MEMBER SETTABLE AT THE WILL OF AN OPERATOR TO EXTEND ITS DISTANCE FROM SAID PRINT WHEEL TO ESTABLISH AN INACTIVE POSITION OF SAID PLATEN, A FIRST CONTROL MEMBER OPERATIVELY CONNECTED TO SAID ACTUATOR TO EFFECT ACTUATION THEREOF AND RESPONSIVE TO THE PASSING OF A SHEET ALONG SAID GUIDEWAY, AND A SECOND CONTROL MEMBER OPERATIVELY CONNECTED TO SAID ACTUATOR AND OPERABLE TO DISABLE SAID ACTUATOR IRRESPECTIVE OF THE OPERATION OF SAID FIRST CONTROL MEMBER. 